ENN Hits The Road

Menu

Thinking outside of the box

By Caroline Fernandez

I attended one of the most creative and interesting sessions of the week today called Alternative Ways to Tell Stories by The University of Florida’s Steve Johnson.

He was engaging, prepared and presented the audience with a plethora of information and inspiration. It inspired me to think outside of the box while reporting on a certain story. I was inspired to in the future not just acquire quotes, write a lede and then create a story, but look for alternative and engaging ways to get the message across. Steve had so many innovative and inspiring ways to tell stories that I’m going to highlight some of his best quotes and points below.

“The first question when we find that story is, ‘How is the audience going to get the information?'”

*I found the above point interesting because in the past the answer was obvious – through a headline, lead, body and conclusion. But now the answer is so much different. We have technology and resources to make something compelling and noteworthy.

“Our job as journalists is changing so quickly that 9 times out of 10 someone has already heard the story. So our job as journalists is when someone has already seen a perspective, we give them a new one.”

“We’ve lost touch with the why. We need to think why will anyone care.”